Need Fuel? How About Some Wine and Cheese?

Owning a car means a lot of things to different people. For some, a car is simply a means to get around when public transportation does not cut it. For others, it is a statement. Having a car that catches the attention of other people is important. Whatever a car means to you, you will probably agree with all the other car owners in the world on one thing: fueling up is getting darned expensive!

I don’t know if you still remember the days when a gallon (or a liter) of fuel was affordable. These days, the prices just seem to go higher and higher, with a little bit of respite every now and then. The future looks bleak when it comes to conventional fuel, but it seems that bright minds are busy trying to make sure that alternative fuel sources are going to be available to the average person tomorrow.

If car manufacturer Lotus meets success in one of its newest ventures, the idea of fueling up and being given choices akin to a wine and cheese tasting event might become the norm. They have a new experimental car called the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel, which can run on ethanol (among other things). ((Source))

You might be thinking that this is nothing new; after all, ethanol as an alternative source has been discussed for so many years now. The revolutionary thing about this system is that the ethanol that the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel runs on can be derived from wine – especially the kind that does not make the cut for drinking – and whey, which is a byproduct when making cheese. Wine and cheese. Interesting, to say the least, yes?

Quite unsurprisingly, the car has been designed so that it can also run on conventional fuel – the kind that you can find in your local gasoline station. That ought to be handy just in case you decide to go on a road trip and find yourself in the middle of nowhere, with only conventional fuel options.

The Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel is still in the R&D phase, so it’s not likely that we will see it on the road this year, but here’s a sneak peek.